PANASONIC LUMIX DMC FZ50 

This camera is, for my money, one of the best entries in the digital SLR  category at its price point. I typically carry this relatively compact, lightweight 10.1 MP camera everywhere, tucked into my backpack.

The camera's remarkably small 35-420mm Leica DC Vario Elmarit zoom (in 35mm format) is sharp and shows very good optical performance for its price range. The lens' long reach and image stabilization feature has made some remarkable grab shots possible - everything from coyotes at Arastradero park to graffitum flashing by Caltrain.

One very nice feature of this camera is a large, flexible, revolving LCD screen that allows the photog to use the camera in a heads-down mode, like a Rollei or Haselblad.  It's amazing how a heads-down photog seems to just disappear in public settings, making it much easier to capture candid shots.  The revolving screen allows high-angle and other interesting shots as well.  The camera also has a conventional eye-level electronic viewfinder, but I find I mainly work with the LCD.

I often pair this camera with my Leica M8, sporting a 21mm  Elmarit-M, which gives the rough equivalent of a 24-28mm lens in 35mm format. The DMC Z50's one flaw in my opinion is the relatively long minimum zoom of 35mm - a 28, or 24mm minimum focal length would have been ideal.

The camera's rechargeable gives decent life, but it's worth it to buy a spare and keep it charged and available.  The companion flash is useful, if only because it's tall enough not to cast lens hood shadows on the bottom of photos shot in the 35mm-50mm focal range, unlike the built-in flash. THe external unit tends to underexpose a bit - you may want to play with the exposure controls a bit when setting it up.  Oddly, the strobe doesn't power down when the camera does - so don't forget to turn it off to preserve its AA batteries.